ROLAND GARROS

May 27, 2026

Elena Rybakina

Press Conference

Y. STARODUBTSEVA/E. Rybakina

3-6, 6-1, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Obviously a tough one out there today, but a very hard-fought match. Give us your main takeaways from today.

ELENA RYBAKINA: (Off microphone.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tough one today, but overall a really strong clay court season for you. You won Stuttgart. You went deep in Rome before you lost to the eventual champ. Are there any specific takeaways from this clay season that you would like to build on moving forward?

ELENA RYBAKINA: (Off microphone) -- so successful. Of course, winning Stuttgart, it's nice, but we all know that it's indoor, and it's very specific, I would say, the conditions.

Yeah, just pity, because I think I was practicing well before French Open, and I was feeling also good on the practices and thought that I can raise the level, but actually today it was very bad performance, too many unforced errors, and, yeah, didn't feel the greatest. So was trying to find a way, but it clearly didn't work.

Q. I was wondering, what sort of regrets you had today, if there were any specific games or specific points or shots that stood out? Also, what kind of advice were you getting from your coaching box? Was Stefano there today, or did he leave in the middle? There was some question as to what happened.

ELENA RYBAKINA: Why I'm not surprised that these questions are coming from you? Yes, he was on the match, and he left because he was feeling really bad for the past few days. So he told me that I might leave, I tried to stay. But he was not feeling great, and it was not a surprise. We talked about it. So nothing from that side.

They were just trying to tell me to raise my energy, try to push more with the legs since the ball is flying so much. Even on the simple balls, which you feel like coming not so fast, the ball bounces so high that you need to really force the wrist. You need to play with fast hands.

And today it was not enough from my side. So even when I was not really attacking the ball, I was trying to keep it in play. I had too many mistakes.

Q. Like you said, I think Yulia was hitting a lot of high shots that were probably out of your normal hitting range, and that was maybe helped by the heat and how high the ball is bouncing right now. I'm curious how much you think the heat affected you in this match, either just from the high bounce or from physically being out there for hours in the weather?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I won't say that physically I felt really bad. There was matches when I felt worse. Definitely the energy was not there. I just couldn't find the right balance on the ball. It was very slippery. In some moments I was just putting my legs, but it was everything out of rhythm.

Yeah, it's tough to say. I think that on the practices it was not as bad.

Definitely when it's so hot, the ball is flying. It's very difficult to control. Especially me being always aggressive, trying to play fast and step in, if you don't give enough spin or if your hands are not as fast, the ball is flying everywhere.

Yeah, in such condition you really need to be super patient, try to spin the ball as much as you can, and, yeah, definitely come to the net. For me it was, as I said, too many mistakes that I can't even talk about coming to the net and all these things.

Q. Elena, is the heat the toughest kind of condition for you to play in? Would you say that? Was that what bothered you the most today, the heat?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I think I just answered on that. It was not really the heat. It's just how the ball was flying and how the weather affects the ball in these conditions. Since it's very light, it's very difficult to control it.

Q. Generally you handle heat well? It's not heat that is not so much an issue for you?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I think everybody trying to somehow deal with the heat, but it's always different. It depends which country you are in and so on.

I think it was not really the heat that really affected me physically. It was most that I couldn't find the balance. I couldn't find the right shot, and it was clearly just too many mistakes.